Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers is now blaming the Iran war for skyrocketing grocery prices in his newest campaign ad, a jarring reversal for a hawkish former congressman who spent months publicly cheering on the very conflict he's now demanding Trump end.
But a CNN KFile review found the shift is a stark departure from Rogers' actual record.
Rogers, dressed nearly identically to a viral 2024 ad where he compared grocery carts under Trump versus Biden, opens his latest spot standing in what appears to be the same grocery store chain, this time pinning high prices on the war rather than the opposing party.
"The war with Iran needs to end and end quickly," Rogers says in the ad. "When it does, energy costs will plummet, but Michigan families can't afford to wait for that to happen."
But when the war began on February 28, Rogers called it "long overdue" and consistently defended it in conservative media appearances through July. In April, he told CNN contributor Scott Jennings' radio show that Iran had become "absolutely a toothless wonder" and described the conflict as the best opportunity for Middle East peace he'd seen in his lifetime.
His enthusiasm followed a familiar pattern throughout the war's early months. In February, he called Iran an "imminent threat" that must not obtain a nuclear weapon. By March, appearing on the Joe Pags Show, he argued the war shouldn't have a fixed end date and that Americans needed to unite behind finishing the job properly. In April, on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, he predicted the war would wrap up quickly since the military was "getting down to the last targets." Even in May, while admitting the "Iran issue has caused gas prices go up," Rogers still stood firmly behind the war's purpose, insisting he "also support[ed] the fact that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon."
Rogers began softening his tone more visibly by July, telling the Fox News Rundown podcast he wanted the war over as fast as possible so prices could start coming down. Yet by month's end, he told CBS Detroit he was still willing to give Trump more time to finish negotiations, arguing a president shouldn't be forced to stop mid-negotiation.
A campaign spokesperson pointed to comments Rogers made this week explaining his current position: "We've been pretty patient on the timeline. I think the best option now is to wind it down."
The political stakes are steep. A recent CNN/SSRS poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the U.S. isn't winning the conflict, and more than three-quarters say it isn't worth fighting at all. Rogers faces Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who has firmly opposed the war, in an election just six weeks away. It's Rogers' second Senate run in as many years, having lost narrowly to Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024 before launching a fresh bid last year to fill retiring Sen. Gary Peters' seat.
